Welcome to the 'New Somerset and Dorset Railway'

The original Somerset and Dorset Railway closed very controversially in 1966. It is time that decision, made in a very different world, was reversed. We now have many councillors, MPs, businesses and individuals living along the line supporting us. Even the Ministry of Transport supports our general aim. The New S&D was formed in 2009 with the aim of rebuilding as much of the route as possible, at the very least the main line from Bath (Britain's only World Heritage City) to Bournemouth (our premier seaside resort); as well as the branches to Wells, Glastonbury and Wimborne. We will achieve this through a mix of lobbying, trackbed purchase and restoration of sections of the route as they become economically viable. With Climate Change, road congestion, capacity constraints on the railways and now Peak Oil firmly on the agenda we are pushing against an open door. We already own Midford just south of Bath, and are restoring Spetisbury under license from DCC, but this is just the start. There are other established groups restoring stations and line at Midsomer Norton and Shillingstone, and the fabulous narrow gauge line near Templevcombe, the Gartell Railway.

There are now FIVE sites being actively restored on the S&D and this blog will follow what goes on at all of them!
Midford - Midsomer Norton - Gartell - Shillingstone - Spetisbury


Our Aim:

Our aim is to use a mix of lobbying, strategic track-bed purchase, fundraising and encouragement and support of groups already preserving sections of the route, as well as working with local and national government, local people, countryside groups and railway enthusiasts (of all types!) To restore sections of the route as they become viable.
Whilst the New S&D will primarily be a modern passenger and freight railway offering state of the art trains and services, we will also restore the infrastructure to the highest standards and encourage steam working and steam specials over all sections of the route, as well as work very closely with existing heritage lines established on the route.

This blog contains my personal views. Anything said here does not necessarily represent the aims or views of any of the groups currently restoring, preserving or operating trains over the Somerset and Dorset Railway!

Monday, June 11, 2012

trackbed trespassers removed ...


Houses at Gorebridge, south of Edinburgh, are demolished to make way for the new Waverley route.

In accordance with my new policy, an article on the use of CPOs to clear trespassers from the Waverley route appears here on my new blog!

11 comments:

Neil said...

Here is an absolute goldmine of railway information:

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/

Galashiels on the Waverley line has a huge amount of information. There is also material on the S and D.

Enjoy!

Steve Sainsbury said...

Excellent resource - I've spent many hours on there!

The article on the other blog re trackbed trespassers brought some magnificent hate mail - but has also got the new site 200+ visits today. I must be doing something right!!

Neil said...

CPOs are scarey creatures. Ignore one at your peril: once the invitation to treat has expired within the procedure and all avenues of appeal etc are exhausted, the using authority can enter land and start work.
I'd like to see where ignoring a CPO would land me-not.

Here is an absolute goldmine of railway information:

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/

Galashiels on the Waverley line has a huge amount of information.

The site is missing S and D locations. Might be time to rectify.

Neil said...

Pure begrudgery on the part of the hate mail merchants.

Keep up the good work. 200+ in a day is excellent publicity. On average, marketing personnel will tell you that each of those 200+ persons will tell 5 other persons.

Good news travels fast.

Steve Sainsbury said...

I love it - it just spurs me on and underlines how right we are. They've got no arguments mind, just insults! Not worthy opponents, but then I don't want opponents, I want us all to work together towards preparing the country for when the oil runs out.

I'm glad this has moved away from the S&D though - even dear old CPO Boy emailed me and wished us the best. I think we've made the case for the S&D and now nobody seriously opposes us, but I think it's time to get the message out further because what will work for the S&D will work everywhere else.

Neil said...

Your approach is entirely correct. Negative attitudes and rank stupidity will not stand up against the Peak Oil juggernaut silently hurtling along in the background of the economy, destination unknown.

Political platitudes do not and have never worked: just look at the decline of Britain since WWII and constant Government intervention.

It is down to those of us who can predict accurately what awaits in the 21st Century on the information presently to hand: we need to integrate our transport system whether it be rail, canal or even road. The most efficient ways of running that System must take precedence which, because of the lesser tax take, will not please Government: tough. I vote. we are meant to live in a democracy.

We will need to reskill the population. Modern technology is excellent but again some of the more fuel efficient ways which have disappeared with the coming of Oil might need a revisit for the future. Employment will come partly from there and the need to locally produce food, clothes etc.

There are other avenues to consider, spanning several disciplines.

Eddystone said...

Steady my old Sunshiner-CPO boy was never in the running anyway! New S&D support is almost self generating- one day soon it will go viral-I've no doubt more stations will come on line over the next year or so
and project credibility will proliferate. The spirit of localism as portrayed eloquently by Neil will act as the final catalyst. The days of Westminster style government are numbered and transport systems as mooted by the new S&D will be controlled by local transport committees and operated by local community concessions and volunteers.
Keep a grip all ...and this will happen in our lifetime and maybe sooner than we think.

Steve Sainsbury said...

I must admit that the speed of rail revival and interest in rail has taken even me by surprise - it's incredible!

It was heartwarming to see that demolition of houses built after line closure was actually happening, rather than it being a theoretical future event, although a good number of houses were demolished during the construction of Tramlink in Croydon, some were only a few years old being stupidly built right on the trackbed of the old railway!

The Evil Bus Driver said...

Hi guys Great work you're doing.

Did someone mention another blog? would you be able to put a link to it as I'd like to see some of the things CPO boy has posted. perhaps he's a troll but maybe it's his way of testing an argument.

Once it's all up and running perhaps a link to West Pennard would be an idea as that'd be a much better way to get to Worthy Farm and you know what...

I'll come down to Midsomer and see for myself one day when I'm in the area

Steve Sainsbury said...

CPO Boy? There's a name from the distant past - we've all moved on since then and I doubt he's even still alive! I imagine the other blog was 'The Rail Thing' which is still up and running. Most of the activity has moved from the blogs to Facebook groups since the old CPO Boy days - and he was actually 'outed' eventually and was 100% a troll!

The Evil Bus Driver said...

Fair do's. I'll come visit and take a ride when I manage to get down there. Keep up the good work!